Faith & Blue was inaugurated in 2020 by MovementForward, Inc., working with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) at the U.S. Department of Justice. The idea was a simple but powerful one — the ties that bind officers and residents must be reinforced if we are to build neighborhoods where everyone feels safe and included. Faith-based organizations are key to building these bonds because they are not only the largest community resource in the nation, with 65 million participants in weekly events, but because they are as diverse as our nation. Moreover, they speak to Americans’ shared conviction that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
Faith & Blue was launched to facilitate safer, stronger, more just, and unified communities by directly enabling local partnerships among law enforcement professionals, residents, businesses, and community groups through the connections of local faith-based organizations. The initiative aims to re-calibrate police-community relations through solutions-focused, in-person, socially distanced, and/or virtual activities that are organized jointly by faith-based or other community groups and law enforcement agencies.
At the heart of this initiative is the reinforcement of connections between law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve through the reach of houses of worship. There is no resource that can match the depth of the faith community in facilitating productive engagement with law enforcement, which is needed now more than ever. These connections are built through activities that are held in neighborhoods of every kind across the United States, jointly hosted by houses of worship and local law enforcement entities.
The Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association has been proud to sponsor and encourage agencies in RI to participate in Faith & Blue since its inception in 2020.
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